The Geography Blog focusing on all things geography: human, physical, technical, space, news, and geopolitics. Also known as Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze!
Written by a former National Geographic employee who also proudly served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pages

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Geography of the East and West Berlin and Remember the Berlin Wall's Fall

Map from Wikipedia

Yesterday was the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The wall's destruction did not unite East and West Germany it spelled the start of the end of the division and the Cold War.

Berlin was a divided city between the end of World War II in 1945 and reunion in 1990. At first the city was divided between all four Allies: the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union. The same Allies also divided the rest of Germany. In May 1949, the Western Allies allowed their sections of Germany, but not western Berlin, to unite and form the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany). The Soviets replied by making their zone the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in October 1949.

East Berlin became the capital of East Germany though the Western Allies (now including West Germany) claimed this violated agreements and refused to formally recognize the new capital. Meanwhile, West Berlin remained under French, British, and American zones though residents were granted most (West) German rights.

The Soviets and (East) Germans long wanted Berlin all to themselves. Even before the German independence the Soviets tried to blockade all aid to western Berlin. Only an airlift saved the city. In June 1961 the leader of the communist Socialist Unity Party stated "Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten!" (No one has the intention of erecting a wall!). It took the Communists two months to brake their promise. A wall was created not to keep the Allies and West Berliners out but the East Germans in. A significant brain drain was crushing East Germany. Soviet and East German guards controlled the wall until November 9, 1989.

The wall was a symbolism of the evil of the Communist regimes that sought to restrict human freedom. Let us always remember those who fought, those who died, and those who beat Communism along the wall.